36 comments:

So, Madewell is now using Borderfree for Canadian shipments as well -- this is news to me! Were any other Canadian Madewell customers made aware of these changes?

Ridiculousness I noticed when trying to place an order:

- Canadian pricing is extremely inflated. I understand that the USD is strong right now compared to the CAD, nothing we can do about that. However, an $82 USD flannel shirt was marked up almost 60% to $131.05 CAD (current exchange rate about 32%). How is that justified?

- We are paying duty on our orders! On top of the outrageous exchange! The duty charge was an extra $21.55 for the flannel shirt! My total for the aforementioned $82 USD shirt would have been $169.72 CAD (including tax and shipping). Lololololol.

- My Canadian order was not eligible for the WINWIN promo (which is a great Madewell promo in my opinion). Instead, there's a 15% discount off all orders to celebrate the new global shipping. Hahaha!

- Free shipping minimums have gone up from $150 USD to $250 CAD. Excuse me, what!? And free shipping is only via DHL. In general, I don't mind DHL, but you better have your parcels sent to your work, or make sure someone is home to receive them -- because DHL depots are usually few and far between in Canada, and a pain in the butt to make the trek.

Not only are these changes devastating (in the world of shopping, not terms of real life problems!), they were completely surreptitious. Needless to say, I'm extremely disappointed with Madewell.

I noticed the same issues and fired off an email to their CS expressing my outrage. You would think that with the lower Canadian dollar that U.S. Businesses would want to keep Canadian customers, not scare them away.

If you look at the explanation about the exchange rate on their website, it says it reflects the current rate. That is completely false, and I pointed that out in my message. Will report back what I hear.

Kitkat-cda, ya it's a bummer! I'm really interested to hear what sort of a response you get. I'm still trying to compose my own letter!

Anon, thanks for the support, and for the article -- definitely an interesting and informative read. What's hilarious is that Borderfee has $100M+ annual profits, while J. Crew is in the red -- presumably, this year, Borderfree will make more profit from J. Crew's customers than J. Crew themselves!

Unfortunately the response is disappointing and rather insulting. I will write back and rebut all their points, and try to get a response to my original question about the exchange rate which they did not address. I noticed the prices were lowered yesterday but at a still high rate of 1.39 when the interbank exchange rate is 1.32.

Here is the lame response from Madewell CSSo sorry for any confusion - happy to clarify. The exchange rate at time you place your order is guarantee for you on that order - which means any refunds or service gestures that are made to that order are done at that exchange rate.

The price of goods varies (almost universally—from cars to mittens) from country to country and region to region for several reasons. One reason is that each country has its own specific taxes and tariffs, which can raise the final price. Others involve the general cost of doing business in places outside of our own backyard. Despite these and other hurdles, we are dedicated to bringing our high-quality goods to every corner of the globe.

So sorry to hear about your disappointment with the new changes we have made - our intension was to make it easier for our customer to return goods and to offer quicker express shipping. Our customers are very important to us and I will pass along your feedback to our international team.

Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns - we are always here and happy to help.

That is a disappointing response, and I agree, insulting. I wonder if the CS reps really even know how Borderfee calculates their charges. Basically, J. Crew and Madewell have given Borderfree free reign to our wallets, by forcing us to use them. The only choice is to suck it up, or stop shopping on-line with them. I'm opting for the latter (don't know if I would be so strong in resolve if I didn't have 3 local J. Crew stores or the option to get to the US in a relatively short period of time), but regardless, my business with them will definitely decline. I assume I won't be the only one, and hopefully they get *that* message.

I wouldn't say this is a vent...more curious....Whatever happened to J. Crew bubble necklaces? They were all the rage and what I considered a J. Crew classics.Does anyone still wear theirs? I still do and it would be nice to see J. Crew bring them back since they say they are getting back to classics.

They aren't that old to be considered classic, maybe came out around 2010 or so? First they knocked off their own necklace by making a similar Factory version. Then there were lots of knockoffs made by other companies, on eBay, everywhere. J. Crew's version was probably nicest, but at some point they probably weren't selling very well because of their price point compared to all the knockoffs. I just sold a few of my Factory ones (reluctantly, but I just wasn't wearing them). I kept one, because you never know :)

Nothing classic about bubble necklace, imo. Sorry. Never liked the look. Yes, cate you are correct, cheap knockoffs are literally everywhere. I don't see many people wearing them anymore, at least in NYC. I think that trend has passed (except JC, they are still pushing it).

I think I kept the one bubble necklace because I liked that cheerful era at J. Crew. It was before they went in their current direction with all the sequins and jewels sewn on clothes, before the normcore trend.

Sure, it is OK to own or wear them. I think the most important thing is to have your own style , or a spin. The worst thing one can do is dress head to toe like models do in catalogs "now" - of course JCrew is trying hard to convince you to do just that :)

Now, God forbid anyone ever calls a bubble necklace "classic" per se :) - they way we do trench coat or striped tee. A trend, fad, sure. Also, when I think about classic JCrew, I think the classic-preppy era, pre-sequin/jewel/ruffle, and also pre-bubble necklace. Absolutely, Cate, this is when they started chasing trends, and became another fast fashion retailers. And no pun intended, the bubble has finally burst. So, back to classic it is! And normcore.

Btw, love, love, love the way Jenna was dresses on Monday during one of the NYFW events: trench coat with either 3/4 sleeves os sleeves rooled up to her elbows, underneath a white/navy stripped tee - again 3/4 sleeves or simply rolled up, a packet square/scarf tied around her neck, white/off-white boyfriend/loose jeans and white sneakers. If she could only ditch those hipsterish glasses.

Love the look - will repost on "Looking for love"! Reminds me of, by far, the most favourite era of JCrew "preppy-classic with a twist"! Sorry have no image, but maybe if you google blogs, etc.

This is not an original vent...it's been said before but bears repeating. Someone in design please rethink the button choices. I am put off by the gold buttons on the Rhodes blazer in any color other than Belgian chocolate, in that golden tone color it works. The ones that I would be interested in save for the buttons are the Rhodes in Wave Mist and the burgundy tweed multi, both ruined by gold buttons. They got the buttons right on the new campbell blazers. My navy campbell arrived with an amazing enamel/gold button and the new cobalt multi tweed has appropriate dark buttons to compliment the elbow patches and overall hue of the plaid.

I bit on the flash sale yesterday for one factory item and now I'm regretting it. Why do a flash sale identical to a week long promo starting the day after with the only difference being free shipping? Also, why add the card member discount NOW? It only ends up being a 6 dollar difference after I add shipping, so it's not worth my gas to replace order, drive to Factory, and return the first item, but still. Item I bought is also 8 dollars less than yesterday. If I had ordered more than just that I would be very irritated. This is why I don't shop factory online.

I agree with Annie, I'd call for a price adjustment. $8 is a significant enough savings and you just got it yesterday. They will for sure adjust the price. I've done it many times at JC, LE, BB and TCP.

egyptomaniac--I've slowly downsized my gingham, too, but still have my pink gingham button down in a bag that hasn't gone to goodwill yet. Maybe I should pull it out! I've realized I'm not quite true preppy, but I wouldn't mind finding a way to wear it so that it's more my style. I do love the gingham heels they showed at their presentation, so that's one way I would do it. I think I would like a gingham shirt if it was more oversized/slouchy. It's too preppy for me in a tailored shirt. Maybe I'll tie my pink gingham around my waist with a more tomboy-like top. :)

And mulligan--I feel like they were trying hard to get back to their roots, but I think they missed the mark. Sure, their roots are preppy, but their roots are also classic and I didn't see much of that. That's what I'm most disappointed about.

i *JUST* tossed a gingham shirt into the donate pile... now i need to pull it back out? one of the shirts is a blue on blue gingham which i do like and i'd probably buy if it's offered (instead of the standard color gingham on white shirt)... but, yeah... it does have a trying too hard feel to the collection.

Mulligan, You were spot on with your analysis :)Politically correct way to say it - a quote from an article: "The collection was all about fun, with Lyons giving a fashion-forward spin to the brand’s preppy heritage".

JCrew was one of the few labels that didn't stream their show life on the NYFW website, no reply either. One would think they would do everything to get some positive social media buzz. Oh well.

I think it was that stripped, flutter, short sleeve tee she wore on Monday....

Also, "While full impact of J.Crew's newly appointed womenswear designer, Somsack Sikhounmuong, will not be seen until fall/ winter 2016, he worked alongside of the entire women's design team to fine-tune this collection during his transitional season".

New stuff in store either looks like crap or fits like crap. Had money to spend and left with nothing. Returned the marble print pencil skirt that fit horribly that finally came today. It doesn't look very promising for spring but I do like the plaid Dr. Schols.

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